Online Sources: University of Alabama Integration (1963)

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"On June 11, 1963, Alabama's Governor George Wallace came to national prominence when he kept a campaign pledge to stand in the schoolhouse door to block integration of Alabama public schools. Governor Wallace read this proclamation when he first stood in the door-way to block the attempt of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, to register at the University of Alabama. President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard, and ordered its units to the university campus. Wallace then stepped aside and returned to Montgomery allowing the students to enter."

Governor Wallace read this proclamation when he first stood in the door-way to block the attempt of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, to register at the University of Alabama. June 11, 1963

"In the speech Wallace makes his famous statement against integration: "Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and again through history. Let us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny...and I say...segregation now...segregation tomorrow...segregation forever.""

"Longstanding Alabama governor and former presidential candidate George Wallace discusses Alabama politics and racial issues in the American South. Wallace speaks at length about the alienation of politicians from a majority of Americans, and explains that his success is due to his effective reconnection with this frustrated constituency. Race plays a significant role in this interview, with Wallace defending his opposition to civil rights legislation by saying he did so on behalf of states' rights and asserting that Alabama has much to offer its African American citizens. He also offers a number of insights on the state of southern politics, the region's increasing penetration into the national political consciousness, and his rehabilitation as a politician after his 1968 presidential run and an assassination attempt. "